my power went out after about three hours of unsaved progress. another time i was right before the disc change at the guardian and i thought i owned him and exposed myself only for him to spit out some last resort toxic sac that insta killed me. that hurt the most. i was so pissed that next attempt i just ran through it no glitching and i was fine. i killed myself detonator glitching as well after 2-3 hours of progress. the price of getting bored

Chapter 9 flying debris crap, 3 playthroughs and I hit it this time.
Chapter 9 I think in the computer core room 2. I used stasis on the black slasher and missed with half health- cursed heavily..
Chapter 13 red laser room, luckily I had just saved..
Fully upgraded rig,stasis,plasma cutter and force gun..
This one definitely goes into my top 10 proudest cheevos..

1st Save Deaths (Chapter 5 before tentacle grabs you):
- Right as the game starts I took a wrong turn while running and died immediately.
- After getting kinesis in Chapter 1 I just wasn't on my game and died on the room with 3 necros.
- End of Chapter 2 with the Brute and train.

Between Chapter 5 & Disc Swap Deaths:
- After the betrayal is revealed and you spam A and fall down, the Brute killed me.

Between Disc Swap and 2nd Save (End of Chapter 9 before nest fight):
- In the decompression room in Chapter 9. Killed the first enemy on the right and when the the other appeared I shot him, broke the window and just wasn't fast enough to close it. Very small room too.
- Flight sequence in Chapter 7.

Between Chapter 9 and 3rd Save (End of Chapter 13):
- No deaths. I was very scared in Chapter 13 in the room with the spinning lasers because I dies the first time on my first playthrough.

Still need to go from Chapter 13 up 'till the end. Will post later what happens.

1st Save Deaths (Chapter 5 before tentacle grabs you):
- Right as the game starts I took a wrong turn while running and died immediately.
- After getting kinesis in Chapter 1 I just wasn't on my game and died on the room with 3 necros.
- End of Chapter 2 with the Brute and train.

Between Chapter 5 & Disc Swap Deaths:
- After the betrayal is revealed and you spam A and fall down, the Brute killed me.

Between Disc Swap and 2nd Save (End of Chapter 9 before nest fight):
- In the decompression room in Chapter 9. Killed the first enemy on the right and when the the other appeared I shot him, broke the window and just wasn't fast enough to close it. Very small room too.
- Flight sequence in Chapter 7.

Between Chapter 9 and 3rd Save (End of Chapter 13):
- No deaths. I was very scared in Chapter 13 in the room with the spinning lasers because I dies the first time on my first playthrough.

Still need to go from Chapter 13 up 'till the end. Will post later what happens.

I'll like to add that I made it alive 'till the end from my save in Chapter 13. I came close to dying a couple of times though.

F**k me do I hate this mode. It's extremely easy with a full spec force gun but I've died twice now in the spinning laser room due to the fact the stasis doesnt quite work with it. Earlier I shot stasis at it and it slowed down a fraction for a couple seconds but then I apparent ran too early and got clipped by the very end of the mechanism as it passed the door. I tried a second time and stasis simply had no effect. Consistency with this game mechanic would be nice. The worst part is I had to use my last save in chapter 10 as I had to go out.

First death was in the room right before you enter the Church of Unitology to start Chap. 4. So, I saved right before that part to avoid a death, even though it was super early, I didn't want to die at the hand of the two exploders again. I died two other times before I made it to the same spot again and was able to save from trying to rush from the anger of dying the first time (beginning scene, lame! And also from the doors that fly off the train). It was at this point I thought I would never, ever beat it on Hardcore, but I kept at it.

After my first save in chap. 3, I had an amazing run where I didn't die at all and I saved it at the part right before the tripod nest where you blow up the canisters. After that I had another great run before I had my most painful death: right before the last brute where you go through the 3 tiered room with a ton of necromorphs. A spitter got me on the second floor, slowed me down, and some fuckass slasher raped me from behind that came out of a vent before I could retreat. I literally just sat there staring at the screen for a full minute. 3.5 hours lost...and only 5 minutes from saving...

So again in my anger I rushed, trying to go through those 4 chapters fast and died a bunch of times: at the two brutes, the decontamination room, the hall after the decontamination room, and some room where two exploders join the party.

Waited a day to play again and made it to the eye machine and saved. Died at the sliding doors in the no gravity room with the nest, then tried again and beat it. Ended up being the second longest achievement in terms of hours spent specifically on it to get (12 hours or so counting deaths). That hand cannon was worth it though, was able to finish Zealot in one sitting in about 4.5 hours.

Fuck this achievement, and fuck whoever thought of hardcore mode. Seriously, this is ridiculous. I don't have all the time in the world to play games and when I attempt this mode, some stupid shit always happens. I was fine all the way up until chapter 14 and now it seems impossible.

Edit: I finally beat it last night. I think it took me three days or so from start to finish. I was doing okay up until chapter 13, that's when the most frustrating stretch for me was, I saved right at the beginning of the chapter, and it took me 10 HOURS to make it from 13 to 15. I kept getting killed for dumbass reasons lol. One time was during the start of 14 I got cornered waiting for the elevator, and as I was trying to grab a stasis canister, I ended up grabbing something else right next to it, TWO different times. I cussed Issac out XD

I would also like to add that my damn TV is shot, its grainy as hell (like Silent Hill times 3) so it was incredibly difficult to see the enemies from a distance, so the spitters kept hitting me! I've had the TV for almost four years and it decides to screw up when I'm already a few chapters in without saving. Made the game even more of a nightmare.

My first death was on chapter 5, I underestimated that fan in the zero-g chamber and thought i could outrun it without recharging my stasis (stupid, i know). Luckily i had just saved. My second death was in the food processing plant on that first set of grinders. I was going slow as hell but I oriented to the ground at the wrong time, lost my leg. Then i forget which chapter it was but right after you get dragged through a hallway and thrown into space by that tentacle, i forgot about the pukers after diverting the lasers and got totally annihilated. And on chapter 9 I almost got sucked out the window after shooting the exploder, it was as close as you could have gotten too haha i had to take a break after that. My advice would be to do your hardcore runthrough shortly after you get done playing it on zealot so you don't forget some of those key details.

I died twice, although I don't count one. Chapter 9 stalker warehouse, I had just saved (literally outside the room) so rushed it a bit, got hit and was at red health. Had plenty of health packs and time to heal but just decided I wouldn't waste any if I couldn't make it through as is, and also I wanted a break so was considering quitting out for a bit then anyway. Got cornered by a stalker and died.

Then when I got to the red laser room, I was watching someone elses run on Youtube for a few tips towards the end. They ran through in one go and made it look easy, so I attempted it....fail XD Almost made it but got hit just as I got into the final room/section. I thought I had survived but just got knocked over, then as I hit the floor all my limbs fell off haha. I was just annoyed at myself for risking it really. My final save was just before the drill ride so it wasn't that bad really. I took a break, went back to it and did it properly next time with no problems.

I had a few close calls. The final decompression window room, I ran round to the right to kill the slasher but I forgot my ripper wasn't upgraded so it didn't kill him. Before I had time to turn around the exploder was next to me and blew up. I somehow survived, while both enemies blew up.
Then the door into the room that leads to the final zero-G section, when being chased by ubermorph, I was grabbed by and infector. By the time I'd wrestled it off me the ubermorph was far far too close for comfort.

That was it really. I always had plenty of health packs on me and never went into the red, hardly ever went to yellow. Just kept my health as high as possible. Wasn't always quite full, but never low enough to slow me down at all.

chapter 13, the 2nd floor or the 3 storie walk down before a tripod monster. 3rd save, I opened up a door to a staircase that was all dark. Because I'm sick of this game I keep my finger on left bumper to run everywhere, and without thinking I ran they the door which was glitched and fell down continuously in darkness to my death.Doh!!!
I'm trying not to watch video walkthroughs anymore but I may have to.

Died twice trying to make it to the disc switch. The first time I got cut in half by the hatch that the coffins come from in chapter 5. The I got stuck on the scenery in the room where the gunship blows out the windows in chapter 4 and got killed by the bullets. Finally made it to the save point just before Isaac gets grabbed in the church and decided to save there as I couldn't face restarting again.

Last night I made it to the disc switch first try before dying 3 times on the free fall section in chapter 7. By the time I finally cleared that area it was 1am and I have to be up for work at 6. Made my second save just before the zero g area in chapter 8 as there is no way I want to risk yet another stupid death in free fall.

Gonna try to make it to the end of chapter 12 for my final save tonight.

died 3 or 4 times when you first get stasis and the guy one shot me.
A few times when you have to TK the poles before you get the plasma cutter.
once at the end of the train sequence
2 time in your first encounter with the pack.
and once when i went right instead of left in the very beginning.

all of this made me save at chapter 3 just so i dont spend another hour or 2 getting to this point.

Very recently managed to get this one done in one go without any deaths (though I did use my three saves).

This was my second attempt though. I tried a few months earlier, and didn't save before the disc swap, feeling confident with the first half and relying on that for an extra save. Then I got surprised after shutting down the AI core. Took down the first slasher who rushed me after I crawled out of the duct. The second black one got by and one-shot killed me. And then after I died the game froze and it refused to load up at the disc swap point (probably because I had both discs installed on my HD). I was so pissed.

Took my several months to get the patience and nerve together to try again, but I did.